Vatican police testify in trial of pope's butler

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Members of the Vatican police force have said they found thousands of documents hidden inside the home of Pope Benedict XVI’s former butler, including original documents signed by the pope with indications they should be destroyed.

The police officers testified Wednesday in the trial of Paolo Gabriele, the pope’s once-trusted butler who faces four years in prison if convicted of aggravated theft for stealing papal documents and leaking them to a journalist.

The final four witnesses were heard Wednesday and closing arguments are set for Saturday, when a verdict by the three-judge Vatican panel is expected.

Inspector Silvano Carli said that of the hundreds of thousands of documents seized from Gabriele’s home, about 1,000 were of interest since they were original or photocopied Vatican documents.